The Green Party have said their former candidate in the Makerfield by-election has apologised after a report that he had shared a post calling an attack on Jewish ambulances in north London a “false flag”.
Chris Kennedy was announced to be running in the seat for the Greens on Thursday morning, but the party confirmed he had dropped out around nine hours later, citing “personal and family reasons”.
The Times later reported it had approached Kennedy about a series of social media posts he had shared.
A Green Party spokesperson said: “These posts don’t reflect the views of The Green Party.
“We have spoken to Chris about these posts, and he has now deleted them. He apologises for the offence caused.”
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According to The Times, an Instagram video shared by Kennedy described the arrests of two men over the incident as “total bullshit to keep the false flag flying”.
The paper says he also shared a post by a user named Hugh Anthony, a self-described “proud ethno-nationalist”, which said the response to the Golders Green arson attack in March made “no sense”.
The Green Party said their earlier statement still stood on the withdrawal of Kennedy, a nurse and children’s safeguarding specialist.
The party said previously: “We wish Chris the best and understand that family has to come first.
“As a party, we are re-opening nominations now because we believe people in Makerfield deserve a real choice at this by-election, and the Green Party will be standing to offer exactly that.
“Across the country, more and more voters are turning away from the old parties and looking for politicians who will genuinely stand up for their communities.
“We will also be redoubling our efforts on campaigning to expose the risk of Reform, a party who seeks to divide our communities.
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“This election has to be about how to make the super-rich pay their fair share, how we tackle the cost-of-living crisis with lower bills and affordable housing, and how we protect our public services and our green spaces.
“It has to be about offering Makerfield hope over hate.”
Nominations for a replacement candidate will open tomorrow and a selection meeting is planned for Monday evening.
The crucial by-election is being contested after Josh Simmons stepped down as an MP to make way for Labour's Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham.
Burnham's bid to win a Westminster seat is widely seen as the first step in his eventual leadership challenge to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Facts Only
* Chris Kennedy, a former candidate, was announced to run in the seat for the Greens in the Makerfield by-election.
* Kennedy dropped out of the nomination process citing "personal and family reasons."
* The Times reported that Kennedy shared social media posts, including one calling an attack on Jewish ambulances a “false flag.”
* An Instagram video shared by Kennedy described arrests as “total bullshit to keep the false flag flying.”
* Kennedy also shared a post by a user named Hugh Anthony, described as a self-described “proud ethno-nationalist.”
* Hugh Anthony’s post claimed the response to the Golders Green arson attack in March made “no sense.”
* A Green Party spokesperson stated that the posts did not reflect the views of The Green Party.
* Chris Kennedy apologized for the offense caused by the posts and deleted them.
* The Green Party announced it is re-opening nominations because they believe people in Makerfield deserve a real choice.
* Nominations for a replacement candidate will open tomorrow, with a selection meeting planned for Monday evening.
Executive Summary
Full Take
The narrative presented involves a complex interplay between political identity, moral panic, and the mobilization of social media for political effect. The immediate focus on the controversial posts—specifically those touching on antisemitism and ethno-nationalist rhetoric—functions as a mechanism to generate outrage and justify a subsequent political reaction. This leverages the moral weight of identity-based language to frame the political contest not as a policy debate, but as a struggle against societal division and hate.
The strategic withdrawal of Kennedy and the subsequent party decision to re-open nominations are symptomatic of how political groups manage identity-based controversies. By immediately withdrawing and seeking reconciliation (apology and deletion), the party attempts to control the damage while simultaneously reinforcing its core identity by pivoting the focus back to tangible, unifying policy goals (cost-of-living, green spaces). This pattern allows the party to position itself as the voice of communal hope against divisive forces, implicitly positioning opposing parties, such as Reform, as agents of division.
The implication for human agency is the reliance on emotional framing over reasoned discourse in political contests. When political action is tied to identity-based accusations, the public is compelled to react emotionally rather than analyze policy. The pattern suggests that rhetorical attacks, particularly those employing moral panic against groups like the Jewish community or ethno-nationalist rhetoric, are effective in shifting focus from policy accountability to identity politics. The question is whether the reaction prioritizes the expression of genuine civic choice over the consumption of outrage designed to divide communities.
Sentinel — Human
The text exhibits the dense, fact-driven structure of human political reporting, anchored by specific names and attributed sources, making it unlikely to be purely synthetic.